The police returned my computer but

[Belle Delphine Targaryen!]

The police came to the wrong house and confiscated my computer. I kept repeating they had the wrong address.

Next day they called and apologized saying my computer would be returned in three days. I got it back, but should I be worried that they may have installed something like a tracker or some virus to monitor me? If so, are they responsible for buying me a new computer?

[Out Of Bubblegum]

You have a small case. Contact a lawyer about suing for coming to the wrong address. You can get a little settlement.
But they ain't gonna buy you a new computer. Scan your thoroughly with more than one product.

[Sir Seanicus, Esq.]

First mistake was answering your door, second was letting police in your house without a reason/warrant.

[DxSpark]

adwcleaner software

[Your_White_Knight]

Originally posted by Belle Delphine Targaryen!:

The police returned my computer but

The police came to the wrong house and confiscated my computer. I kept repeating they had the wrong address.

Next day they called and apologized saying my computer would be returned in three days. I got it back, but should I be worried that they may have installed something like a tracker or some virus to monitor me? If so, are they responsible for buying me a new computer?

Well that depends doesn't it...

Are you afraid they will be coming to the correct house next time?

[nohuman]

microwave the hdd. lol. Dban works too....

[Birds]

No, they can pretty much walk right in whenever they want. There’s no need for them to install anything, they just have to think to look.

Seizing the computer is just a way to secure physical evidence for the sake of their case. If you knew they were coming and deleted everything they’d have a hard time prosecuting you.

[Zero, Dark Knight]

I don't think the police install viruses or malware on peoples pcs, they're legally required to destroy them if they find anything anyway, so they didn't go through your machine, I'd honestly doubt they even took it out of the evidence room or whatnot before they realised their mistake.

[EpirusWarriorμολὼνλαβέ]

Originally posted by Sir Seanicus, Esq.:

First mistake was letting police in your house without a reason/warrant.

Fixed it.

[agu]

Why did you let them take it if it was the wrong address? This was a big mistake. They can't just do that...
It's possible they installed something that won't even be deleted by formatting the OS if they wanted to (there's lots of viruses that attach themselves to UEFI firmware on your motherboard) but realistically they probably didn't if they aren't interested in you. Still, it's a pretty ugly violation of your rights.

[nohuman]

Originally posted by EpirusWarriorμολὼνλαβέ:

Originally posted by Sir Seanicus, Esq.:

First mistake was letting police in your house without a reason/warrant.

Fixed it.

Yeah that works great on no-knock raids.

[EpirusWarriorμολὼνλαβέ]

Originally posted by Bukov:

Originally posted by EpirusWarriorμολὼνλαβέ:

Fixed it.

Yeah that works great on no-knock raids.

Sure, and how do lawyer work after that? They better have some good insurance.

[craigsters]

look for a hidden file called little piggy, most likely more gey police pron added to your pc

[nohuman]

Originally posted by EpirusWarriorμολὼνλαβέ:

Originally posted by Bukov:

Yeah that works great on no-knock raids.

Sure, and how do lawyer work?

They work, afterwards. Unless they stand outside your door?

[kilésengati]

First of all, consult a legal expert. Depending on your jurisdiction and the circumstances, there's a chance you have a case against the institutions involved now.

When it comes to authorities installing malware on your computer, there's no way of knowing. Authorities have easy access to malware that is practically undetectable to average consumers. From a security and privacy standpoint, your device should be considered compromised now and will remain that way. And as for your data, well, chances are someone has at least browsed through it and even could have placed something malicious in there, if it wasn't securely encrypted.

If you at least in the future want to keep your data safe from pilferers and brigands, be it governmental or private, switch to an operating system that allows you to encrypt your drive(s) without backdoors. But to be honest, no encryption is 100% safe and will be cracked eventually. Especially if whoever is targeting you has access to a quantum computer, it's game-over for most, if not all encryptions. But that shouldn't keep you from doing your best at protecting your data and yourself from people targeting you - be they in the right or wrong.

This guide is worth a read:

https://ssd.eff.org/module/what-should-i-know-about-encryption


The full guide from the start:

https://ssd.eff.org/

[EpirusWarriorμολὼνλαβέ]

Originally posted by Bukov:

Originally posted by EpirusWarriorμολὼνλαβέ:

Sure, and how do lawyer work?

They work, afterwards. Unless they stand outside your door?

Than they will need a lot of luck, with no disclose of purpose, in legal cases, especially if it happen as in the OP case when they found nothing and possibly would end violating other rules.